THE WARBIRD'S FORUM

Here's a two-fer, for fans of the Brewster Buffalo (that's an F2A of USS
Saratoga, before the Brewsters were sold off to Finland in 1940)
and the Flying Tigers (that's Percy Bartelt, a Navy aviator before he
joined the American Volunteer Group in 1941). The pilot's son sent me the
photo years ago when I was looking for mug shots of the
Flying Tiger aces. Over Rangoon in January 1942, Bartelt was credited
with five Japanese planes shot down, plus two destroyed on the ground, but
he quit the group not long after. As a result, he got a "dishonorable
discharge" from Chennault, wasn't recognized by the Flying Tigers veterans'
group, and didn't receive the Silver Star awarded to AVG pilots in the
1990s. As part recompense, his family was awarded a Fighter Aces Congressional
Gold Medal at a ceremony this spring.

I came across this photo on Facebook, but I confess I have no idea what
movie those P-40 mockups were supposed to appear in. Whatever it was, it
must have been some time ago, considering the faded paint on the Tomahawk
in the foreground and the disappeared fabric on the rudder panels of
those behind it. The venue seems to be a parking lot, and the location
supposedly is in Australia. Please send an email
if you can shed any light on this!

I've posted a third installment of Flying Tiger biographies, from John
Hennessy to Mac McGarry. See them here.

And books! July was a good month for reading, and for a change I finished
every book I began, starting with
Enemy in the East, a magnificent account how Hitler planned from 1934
to invade the Soviet Union. (That business with France, Belgium, Netherlands,
Denmark, and Norway? Just protecting his western flank!) From there I proceeded
to David McCullough's latest hagiography,
The Wright Brothers. It's good, though I have a few complaints. And now
I'm well into
Ally, by the New Jersey lad who became Israel's ambassador to the
United States during Mr. Obama's first term. (Spoiler: Michael Oren is not
among the president's warmest admirers.) Go here for
more about these books.

I also confess to having read (and hugely enjoyed)
The Girl on the Train. I didn't buy it, though! I borrowed it from the
New Hampshire State Library's digital collection. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Welcome to the Warbird's Forum!

Here are a thousand or so files on airplanes, pilots, and
military history, grouped under these headings: